Two Israeli right-wing ultranationalist organizations, together with numerous so-called Temple Mount activist groups, are set to hold a march through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday night to call for the re-establishment of “Jewish control” over the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.
The event, coinciding with start of the Hanukkah festival and titled “March of the Maccabees,” will proceed through the Damascus Gate and into the Muslim Quarter. It will then pass by the offices of the Jordanian Waqf which runs the Al-Aqsa Compound, and will finish by the ramp to the Mughrabi Gate which is the entrance to what Jews call the Temple Mount, located just outside the plaza of the Western Wall, the holiest site at which Jews are currently allowed to pray.
The goals of the march, as stated on a social media flier for the event, are to honor the memories of the Israeli soldiers who have been killed in combat against the Hamas group in the current war, “eject the Waqf from the Temple Mount,” and “restore full Jewish control in Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.”
The Israeli police gave approval for the march to go ahead, but have restricted it to 200 participants and also refused a request by the organizers to go up to Al-Aqsa Compound itself.
Former Jerusalem police Chief Yair Yitzhaki has told Israeli Army Radio he cannot understand why police approved the march, arguing that the route through the Muslim Quarter is “an attempt to anger and inflame the area.”
Hal Turner Observations:
On Thursday evening, the first night of Hannukah, the Temple Mount Movements will conduct a march "approved by the police" from "the blessed Damascus Gate" in the direction of the Temple Mount (near the Kotel).
If there is any provocation more dangerous, more incendiary and more likely to trigger an eruption of violence in East Jerusalem and/or the West Bank and/or the Lebanese border, I can't think of one. This is no doubt a cause of concern in Amman, Cairo and beyond.
You will be told: the Police will never let it happen.
Ben Gvir's Police? Wanna bet? The Police are issuing "calming" statements. It will "only" be 200 marchers, and go through Al Wad St., the Muslim Quarter "only" as far as the Austian Hospice. Satisfaction guaranteed.
This is precisely the route that thousands of ultra-nationalist religious marauders took last May. They marched through the Muslim Quarter pounding in the locked doors of Palestinian storefronts and homes, screaming "death to the Arabs" and "May their villages burn."
Then as well, the Police did their Gunnar Jarring impersonation, devoted to maintain the rights of the marauders. They even announced in advance that they were cool with chants of "death to the Arabs". There were indeed a few arrests - all Palestinian.
The worst part: not ONE public figure in Israel condemned the chants of death to the Arabs. Not one. Not the Prime Minister, who has 5 houses (no less) a couple of kilometers away. Not the Mayor, who lords over the occupation of 400,000 Palestinians.
In a very non-routine move, the United States publicly called upon the leaders of Israel to condemn the chants. No one did. And I mean no one. Herzog? Shtum. Ganz? Shtum. Lapid? הצחקתם אותי. Shtum.
This is not "elective surgery." This has nothing to do with piety, and everything to do with pyromania. Anyone inside Israel and in the international community with any sense of responsibility have to communicate unequivocally to the Netanyahu Regime: don't dare. Don't dare.
Is it certain that this march will ignite violence? No. My bet would be 50-50, at best. With war and & a humanitarian meltdown of unspeakable horror in Gaza, with the potential of a war in the north, and the West Bank on the brink, this is not the time for tossing the dice.
This will not stop unless it is stopped. Netanyahu's judgment is deeply impaired, and he will flirt with a regional conflict if he is convinced it will prolong his staying in power.
A competent Israeli government would condemn this and take steps or ensure it didn't cause further tensions.
The man who okayed this madness is Israel Security Minister Ben Gvir. Even the US has called out his racism and violent anti-Arab rhetoric (check him out). He's one of a number of religious fanatics in the regime about whom Israel apologists here have absolutely nothing to say.
This is scary. With this fanatical Israeli government in place, I guess anything goes.
